5.1 – The Dalek Occupation of Winter

The TARDIS lands in the capital city of a planet deep in the midst of an endless winter. The population are celebrating a new crop of candidates winning roles at the scientific research centre. Those who go there dedicate their lives to continued service and are rarely, if ever, seen again. Not everyone is happy to see them leave.

As the Doctor, Steven and Vicki watch, the city leader – Majorian – invites onto the stage in front of the happy crowd their ‘friend who made all this possible’… and a Dalek appears.

The people of this planet seem to be living in perfect harmony with the Doctor’s old enemies. But the TARDIS crew know this cannot be true. So what’s really going on?

1 Comment

Styre
on January 9, 2019 at 12:00 AM

THE EARLY ADVENTURES: THE DALEK OCCUPATION OF WINTER

It’s hard to believe that we’re already into the fifth season of Early Adventures, a range that essentially replaced the Companion Chronicles but never really filled the same void. This season starts with “The Dalek Occupation of Winter” by David K. Barnes, and if the whole season is like this it’ll be great – this is a fantastic Doctor Who story.

There’s nothing particularly mold-breaking about this script. You have a colony planet locked in an endless winter, power vested in a single leader, a maniacal security chief, the population working hard in the factories, and the young “elite” being sent off to work in scientific research, rarely to be seen again. From the title, you know the Daleks are involved, and when they turn up as Power-like servants you know they’ll soon reveal themselves to be the murderous fascists they’ve always been. Yet Barnes turns the whole thing on its ear with one slight change in the formula: the people are working cooperatively with the Daleks, building more Daleks in exchange for food, without a hint of slavery.

It seems a bit out of character for the Daleks to enter into an arrangement like this, but at the same time it makes perfect sense: it costs them almost nothing to produce food for the colony while they are having tens of thousands of new Daleks fabricated. This, in turn, makes it much more difficult for the Doctor and companions to talk the people into rebellion: why should they rebel? The Daleks aren’t mistreating them, they’re feeding them and giving them jobs. Instead, they’re asked to rebel based on vague promises that the Daleks are murdering people elsewhere. This is great material for the regular cast: the Doctor, Steven, and Vicki are utterly appalled that the colonists are building new Daleks, but they, like us, have seen the pure evil that the Daleks represent. The workers haven’t, and so the TARDIS crew sound like raving lunatics. There’s a great scene where Steven tries to prove his point by taunting a Dalek, knowing the hatred bubbling just below the surface needs little excuse to come out.

I also like how Gaius Majorian (Robert Daws) keeps you on your heels. He puts up a disarming façade as a slightly confused, aging man, but underneath it he’s surprisingly ruthless. His actions make perfect sense with complete information, but without that information he’s incredibly hard to predict. I also like Jacklyn Karna (Sara Powell), chief of security, Majorian’s blunt instrument who thinks she’s the power behind the throne. Her relationship with the Daleks doesn’t make a lot of sense, but apart from that I love how Barnes develops her character.

And let’s not forget the regular characters. Peter Purves pulls double duty as usual, and he’s predictably fantastic as the Doctor – he inserts a lot of subtlety and emotion into his impression, and this story allows him to run a whole range of emotions. Steven is great as well, as is Vicki – the story separates the crew but gives each of them strong material to grapple with. The production is similarly great, both from Lisa Bowerman in the director’s chair to Toby Hrycek-Robinson in the sound design suite.

Overall, “The Dalek Occupation of Winter” is excellent. As above, it doesn’t blaze any new trails for Doctor Who, but it understands how good storytelling works. Each character is given development and thoughtful challenges, and while the plot may be a touch predictable, it doesn’t skip any essential steps. I often ask for Big Finish stories to push the boundaries, but if they’re not going to, the least they can do is be this good.